Micah 7:1-20 CEB

[1] I’m doomed! I’ve become like one who, even after the summer fruit has been gathered, after the ripened fruits have been collected, has no cluster of grapes to eat, no ripe fig that I might desire. [2] Faithful ones have perished from the land; there is no righteous one among humanity. All of them lie in wait for bloodshed; they hunt each other with nets. [3] Their hands are skilled at doing evil. Official and judge alike ask for a bribe; the powerful speak however they like; this is how they conspire. [4] The good among them are like a briar; those who do the right thing are like a thorny thicket. (A day for your lookouts! Your punishment has arrived. The confusion of the wicked is nearby.) [5] Don’t rely on a friend; put no trust in a companion; guard the doors of your mouth from she who lies in your embrace. [6] Son disrespects father; a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; the enemies of a man are those of his own household. [7] But me! I will keep watch for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. [8] Do not rejoice over me, my enemy, because when I fall, I will rise; if I sit in darkness, the LORD is my light. [9] I must bear the raging of the LORD, for I have sinned against him, until he decides my case and provides justice for me. He will bring me out into the light; I will see by means of his righteousness. [10] Then my enemy will see; shame will cover her who said to me: “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her ruin; now she will become something to be trampled, like mud in the streets. [11] A day for the building of your walls! On that day, the boundary will be distant. [12] On that day, they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, from Egypt to the River, from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. [13] And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants, because of the fruit of their actions. [14] Shepherd your people with your staff, the sheep of your inheritance, those dwelling alone in a forest in the midst of Carmel. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead, as a long time ago. [15] As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show Israel wonderful things. [16] Nations will see and be ashamed of all their strength; they will cover their mouths; their ears will be deaf. [17] They will lick dust like the snake, like things that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling from their strongholds to the LORD our God; they will dread and fear you! [18] Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity, overlooking the sin of the few remaining for his inheritance? He doesn’t hold on to his anger forever; he delights in faithful love. [19] He will once again have compassion on us; he will tread down our iniquities. You will hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea. [20] You will provide faithfulness to Jacob, faithful love to Abraham, as you swore to our ancestors a long time ago.